Michael Myers and Laurie Strode will return in the upcoming film Halloween Ends after they both survived the events of the previous film, Halloween Kills. The two started in one of the earliest installments of the slasher film horror subgenre, Halloween, in 1978. That film helped to launch John Carpenter's directing career and Jamie Lee Curtis as one of the all-time scream queens. It also kickstarted a massive horror franchise containing 13 films with multiple timelines. And while, at first glance, Laurie Strode and Michael Myers don't seem to have much in common with another timeline-hopping duo in Batman and his nemesis, The Joker, the most recent trailer for Halloween Ends reveals that these iconic pairs actually have some similarities.
Unlike other slasher killers, like Jason Voorhees, Michael has repeated run-ins with the same final girl. Michael and Laurie have faced off many times in several timelines, but they keep surviving their encounters. And that is more similar to the dynamic between Batman and Joker than one in the slasher genre. Batman and Joker have fought for decades, but they both continue to live to fight another day. It's not just that they are nemeses -- they seem to draw each other out and exist to be adversaries.
The trailer for Halloween Ends, in particular, seems to drive home this connection. Laurie has known for quite some time that Michael can only be stopped when he's dead. That is a similar feeling that Batman has about Joker. But while Laurie is actively trying to kill Michael, Batman struggles with this idea and his principles about not killing.
Laurie actually says in the trailer that she may have to die for Michael to be killed, which is a classic theme of the Batman and Joker dynamic. In The Dark Knight, when Batman captures The Joker during the film's climax, the villain explains that they will be forever trapped in this cycle because the Dark Knight won't kill him out of principle. That means as long as they both live, neither can die. And it's this aspect that makes Batman and Joker just like Laurie and Michael.
Michael and Laurie have a unique dynamic in the world of slasher killers and their victims. The pair draw each other in, again and again, creating this sense that neither can live while the other survives. The latest trailer for Halloween Ends sees Laurie and Michael face off again, and this element is on full display.
To see how Laurie and Michael are like Batman and Joker, Halloween Ends hits theaters Oct.14.